It was in the midst of the banquet.
Gael Zahard stood at the center top to explain the business in earnest.
“Please pay attention, everyone,” Gael Zahard said in a loud voice. Everyone in attendance was eagerly anticipating this moment.
“This is a medicine that we have developed,” he proudly declared, revealing the medicine inside a box.
“There are people here today who have already experienced the effects of this medicine.” Gael Zahard confidently introduced it.
The response was very positive.
Particularly, those suffering from joint pain or migraines showed tremendous interest in the medicine.
“Haha, of course. Just trying it once or twice will make you feel the effects right away,” Gael and Helena’s eyes were all about seeing them as nothing but money.
Elder Siron, who was the first to invest and expected the highest profits, also stood next to him with a look of superiority on his face.
It was when Gael expressed his confidence in monopolizing the outstanding medicine by emphasizing that only the Zahard family knew how to manufacture it.
Suddenly, a voice was heard from somewhere, and people’s gaze turned involuntarily towards the entrance to the banquet hall, where a person covering their face could be seen.
As the person entered, whispers and murmurs of curiosity began to fill the room.
“Who is that person?”
“…And didn’t they just say something strange?”
The nobles looked at him suspiciously.
“Is he approaching the Zahard heir right now?”
“It looks like it. What on earth is happening…?”
Most of the nobles were startled, but the two people who recognized him immediately wore pensive expressions.
Then, the person revealed his face and slowly proceeded further inside.
He was the swindler whom Gael and Helena had tried to kill.
“Heir, it’s good to see you here again.” The swindler was standing in the middle of the banquet hall.
“Didn’t I tell you how to make that medicine?”
“Yes, but how did you…” Gael and Helena’s faces were filled with astonishment.
“But I am disappointed that you underestimated me.”
He said casually with a smile.
“….”
“No… should I be angry because he tried to kill me?”
“…!”
Each word he uttered caused a great commotion.
“What is going on here?” One of the nobles who had been observing the situation stepped forward and asked.
“So, if he developed the medicine, does that mean the Zahard heir tried to kill him?”
“Goodness, that’s impossible!” Other nobles also understood the situation and were astonished.
Gael’s face, already turning pale, became cold as ice. He quickly rolled his eyes and, completely ignoring the swindler, spoke.
“A person with a strange demeanor intruded.”
He awkwardly smiled as if it were nothing.
“But why just stand there? Clear out immediately!”
Gael glared at the knights with a reproachful look.
Only then did the knights hastily grab his arms.
“Do you think you can expel me like this and get away with everything?”
“….”
“The person who knows more about that medicine than anyone else is here.”
“What can I do! Get rid of him right away!”
Although Gael ordered the knights again, the scammer resisted vigorously and shouted.
“Do you really think I would have barged in today without any precautions?”
“Regardless of who is manipulating you into saying these things without any evidence.”
Gael Zahard warned the scammer menacingly.
“Be prepared for the consequences.”
When he thought of killing the scammer, he had already burned all evidence related to him.
It took thorough precautions, including relocating things that seemed impossible to move.
They thought they could dismiss it as the nonsense of a madman. However, the swindler was just the beginning.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps resounded, and Crown Prince Frederick and the palace knights entered the banquet hall.
Following Frederick’s signal, the knights poured out the medicine at the center.
Then Frederick stepped forward.
“We raided the factory after receiving the tip. Turns out the medicine contained a large amount of drugs,” he declared, leading the palace knights in the investigation. Gael froze in disbelief.
“Oh, there seems to be a misunderstanding!” he desperately exclaimed, but no one believed him.
The people’s stares had already turned cold.
“So, the medicine I’ve been taking all this time…!”
“P-Please, remain calm!”
“What have you done to me!” The nobles who had been supplied the medicine by Gael Zahard rushed forward with rage in their eyes.
The situation quickly turned into chaos as everyone grabbed him and protested against him.
“This is unfair!”
He refused to acknowledge the situation unfolding right before his eyes.
“S-Someone holds a grudge against me and manipulated this, it’s obvious!”
His appearance was almost pitiful.
“I have no idea about any of this! Drugs, absurd!” Gael Zahard desperately denied everything in his final struggle.
“Y-Your Highness, who was the person that tipped you off about the factory?” Gael shouted.
“That person planted the drugs in the factory and is framing me!”
“I can’t reveal that person’s identity.”
“See? They can’t reveal it because they’re not acting upright!” Gael Zahard’s voice grew louder.
He was even confronting Prince Frederick, his eyes showing signs of losing his composure and slipping into madness.
It seemed like he was determined to stick to his story.
Frederick furrowed his brow, contemplating what to do with Gael Zahard.
Gael urgently asserted his innocence while fluttering his eyes.
“There has been nothing wrong with the medicines we have produced so far! Someone must have put drugs there to trap me.”
As Gael continued to plead his innocence, a commotion began to stir among the nobles.
Helena’s gaze turned towards Erin, her sudden expression turning cold.
“…It’s you! Did you orchestrate all of this?”
Suddenly, Helena lashed out at Erin. It was as if Erin had led them into a pit.
“How could you do this to the family! Were you so averse to seeing us do well?” Erin thought to herself. Helena Zahard truly was someone who would never change, and this reaffirmed to Erin that she could not accept her as family.
“You need to resolve this situation quickly!” Helena was about to come closer to confront Erin.
Aiden stood between Helena and Erin as if to protect her, creating a barrier that seemed to loom large.
Under his imposing presence, Helena hesitated. Gael Zahard still refused to admit to everything.
With eyes red as if ready to burst at any moment, he glared fiercely.
But the evidence was already too glaring.
“How will you prove that all of this is true? It could have been fabricated!” Erin looked at Gael Zahard, feeling sorry for his stubbornness.
At that moment, something unexpected happened. Gael Zahard suddenly began to cough up blood.
It was one of the side effects of the drug-laced medication.
Gael Zahard was already addicted to the drugs in the medication.
“H-how could this happen…? I’m sure I didn’t take it.”
Upon learning about the drug content in the medication, he had researched the various side effects that would occur if he took it.
The most prominent symptom was suddenly bleeding from the nose and having convulsions without any apparent reason.
However, now he was experiencing those symptoms himself.
“This can’t be…,” Gael Zahard muttered dumbfoundedly as he looked at the blood pouring from his nose as if he couldn’t believe it.
Unbeknownst to himself, he had been taking the medication. It was Erin’s preparation for him, who had insisted that there was no problem for his own benefit despite knowing the issues with the medication.
As Gael was about to continue making excuses while wavering, a voice spoke out from the crowd. It was Mila, stepping forward. “I am the evidence and the witness.”
Mila was the one who had helped gather all the evidence.
Gael’s face contorted strangely as Mila stepped forward. In an instant, he tried to rush at Mila with a roar, but the Knights brought by Frederick blocked his path.
He couldn’t get anywhere near Mila.
She calmly addressed Frederick and all the nobles in the banquet hall. “Your Highness, I will testify about everything that has happened in the Zahard family.”
“It was you!” Helena screamed in disbelief, but Mila remained unfazed.
When Mila had visited the salon, she had confessed to Erin about one change that had occurred within her.
“I am pregnant.”
She had a child growing inside her. And Mila had become stronger. If she couldn’t even let her child live as herself, she was determined to do whatever it took.
“Right now, the Zahard family is a complete mess. Even if the business is doing well now, it can’t be sustained.”
That was Mila’s judgment. As an inside whistleblower, she confessed every detail.
“I can no longer helplessly watch the misdeeds of the Zahard family.”
Mila’s face was filled with conviction as she spoke.
